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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. foot — a measure
  3. net — after costs
  4. ground — crushed
  5. net — for catching
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bulb — for light
  9. net — in sport
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. ground — the earth
  12. wax — to grow
  13. ground — a position
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. fall — the season
  20. fall — to drop
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. branch — a division
  23. bulb — for light
  24. fall — to drop

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com